Husband charged in Wendy Ratte case

Written by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff

Monday, 08 December 2008 Denis Ratte has been charged with second degree murder in the disappearance of his wife, Wendy Ratte, more than 11 years ago. RCMP said on Monday that the E-Division Major Crime Section assisted Prince George Mounties on the case, and the arrest of Ratte was made on Friday. He was remanded in custody until his first court appearance on Monday. "I cant say it is what I wanted, but it is what I wanted, if that makes any sense," the Ratte's daughter Anna told The Citizen. "It has been tough for all of us in the family. My brother and I are feeling a little lost right now. It is still a strange subject for all of us." Ratte went missing on the morning of Aug 19, 1997 and no trace was ever discovered since. Denis Ratte was long ago made a suspect, the Citizen learned through a number of sources, but police felt they could not make an arrest. It is not yet known why that changed on Friday, but Anna hopes to learn more through the court proceedings. One of the key questions for her is to know where her mother's remains are located.

COLD CASE CRACKED?

Written by Citizen Staff

Monday, 08 December 2008 CITIZEN EXCLUSIVE: Arrest made in Wendy Ratte case by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff The Citizen has learned that an arrest has been made in the disappearance of Wendy Ratte, 11 and a half years after she was last seen. Her daughter, Anna, was informed by police of the arrest Friday. “I’m still kind of in shock,” said Anna who was 17 when her mother didn’t come home. “They haven’t told me much, just that they had arrested (someone) and they know some of the story, but they could not tell me anything more. These cases are very sensitive but it will all come out in court, I will know everything, but they want to do it right.” Police would not comment on the arrest but Anna said it was someone who knew Ratte and had been investigated as a suspect for years. Anna also confirmed that her mother’s physical whereabouts are not yet known. The arrest represents the first known break in what has been one of the city’s most baffling missing persons cases. Ratte, then 47, was last seen at about 9 a.m. on Aug. 18, 1997 near the intersection of 15th Avenue and Spruce Street. Her van was found parked near the intersection, by what was then a supermarket but is now a discount merchandise store. She and her husband had been running errands separately and when he arrived to meet, she did not. He, Anna and her brother spent the day, and the next decade, looking in vain for their loved one. “I am glad mom can finally rest and I’m glad I can finally rest. I had never given up hope of figuring it out,” said Anna. She was feeling her emotional clock starting to tick more loudly lately. “I was watching a TV show and it was talking about unsolved cases and how one was finally solved 13 years later,” she said. “I remember getting this notion that I had to know what happened to my mom before the 13 year mark, and it was 11 and a half years. I was starting to wonder.” Anna was called into the RCMP detachment late last week and was given the news. She said she was unsure if she could handle going to court to face the accused and the whole judicial process, but right now she was just letting the shock of the news run its course. “I’ve done what I can to keep it going, and my life has felt like it has been on hold ever since, so maybe now I can move on in some way,” she said. “When we get all through this, that is; first we have to get through this.”

Police silent on Ratte case

Written by FRANK PEEBLES, Citizen staff

Monday, 08 December 2008

The Prince George RCMP are staying mum on whom they have arrested in the Wendy Ratte cold case.
She disappeared one August morning in 1997 with no trace since then.
“We have no official comment to make at this time,” said a senior RCMP member when asked by The Citizen.
Others, including Ratte’s daughter, confirmed the arrest had been made.
Police have also declined to comment so far on which unit made the arrest.
However, it is known that a suspect was taken into custody in Prince George on Friday.
The Citizen, learned through Ratte’s daughter Anna and corroborating sources, that the Prince George RCMP relatively recently shared their ongoing investigation with the specialized Unsolved Homicide Unit based at E-Division headquarters in Vancouver. How the collaboration played a role in this case was still to be revealed.
Prince George RCMP spokesman Const. Gary Godwin said Mounties had the disadvantage in the Ratte case of having no body to confirm a death, no note to confirm a suicide or a runaway, no history of medical distress or running away to suggest those possible outcomes.
“It has always been a missing persons file, just like Nicole Hoar and Joseph Andrews,” Godwin said. “They are categorized that way because we have no hard evidence to suggest there was foul play, although in some of those missing persons cases but certainly not all, we do strongly suspect foul play.”
Many slim leads have emerged over the 11 years. Some neighbours were investigated due to a past argument; there was a suggestion she may have joined a new-age church, but everything turned up little of substance.
Ratte’s daughter Anna became her strongest ally, in absentia, pushing police and the media to stay focused.
Anna even engaged the services of former Mountie turned private investigator Ray Michalko, who told The Citizen that the arrest made on Friday was a result of good police work.
“I don’t think any of the inquiries I made had anything to do with the RCMP’s results -- they did all this themselves, it was their work that led to this,” Michalko said. “The RCMP take a lot of heat and criticism, a lot of times they look to the outsider like they aren’t doing anything, but they did well, it is great, and a lot of closure might be possible now.”
The positive effects reach far beyond Wendy Ratte’s family, he stressed.
“I wish this (a major break) would happen with the Highway Of Tears cases and I am still optimistic it can happen,” he said. “This is good from a point of view of a conclusion to one of these long, long situations. I expect other families suffering like Anna and her family did will be able to take some heart that yes, sometimes, these things get figured out.”
Godwin said he has found himself frequently looking at Ratte’s missing persons poster tacked all this time to the RCMP’s public bulletin board, ruminating on all those possible outcomes. It was one of those cases that never sat right in his mind.
“She (Anna) has been a driving force, really advocating for us to keep it out in the public eye. Each case takes on a persona of its own, and this one’s was the daughter really being involved,” he said, admitting she definitely helped to motivate him in his duties as media liaison.
The Mounties working the file never needed any outside influence to motivate them, he clarified -- they were also troubled by the parts that clearly didn’t add up.